Thursday, December 13, 2007

Siriusly

As a Sirius and former XM subscriber, I have been watching from the sidelines as the Sirius-XM merger has seemingly progressed without question, wondering when this would happen.

Finally, eyebrows are raised as the only two satellite radio carriers look to merge, and both are quite young as companies.

I listen to Sirius in the call almost exclusively; much more than I thought I would when I leased a car that came with a year's free service.

As a free market proponent, I would tend to believe that if the merger is beneficial, the market and the companies' shareholders could and should be able to determine the best scenario: merge or not. Regulators should stay out of the way

On the other hand, does it make sense for the whole satellite radio industry to consolidate to one provider? Is this really a monopoly? Is the argument that HD radio will provide adequate competition?

Both companies seem to be growing at a fair pace (then again so is Caribou, but they can't make money in a hot market either) with XM having a slight edge in subscribership. It will be interesting to see if regulators will let this one fly.

Email Subscriptions powered by FeedBlitz

"It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad, but rather regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who would rob us of today." Robert J. Hastings

"Care more than others think wise. Risk more than others think safe. Dream more than others think practical. Expect more than others think possible." Howard Schultz, Chairman of Starbucks from his book Pour Your Heart Into It

"A great man once said 'Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man and let history make it's own judgements.'" Zephram Cochrane, Star Trek: First Contact

Disclaimer:

This is a personal blog. Opinions expressed here do not represent those of any financial services provider, insurance company, broker/dealer, or any other entity and are not to be considered financial planning advice, stock tips, or investment guidance of any kind.

I reserve the right to delete comments that are obscene or extremely offensive. I will not delete comments solely because I disagree but I may delete comments if you don't know how to spell.

JDRF is the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research worldwide

Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1 billion to diabetes research, including more than $122 million in FY2006.